Ugly beauty
by Serphtears
Summary: Broken mirrors. Broken hearts. Broken minds. Kaoru is in love with Kenshin. Tomoe suspects Kaoru's love, steals Kenshin. Kaoru's stolen love is taken out on her mind, shattering the way she sees herself. Years later broken hearts mend or break. Again. KxK


Kaoru sighed and stared at her mirror, she hesitantly placed her long slender fingers onto the horrendous looking person on the other side of the mirror. With a quick motion, the perfectly hoisted up mirror was now shattered and lay crookedly on the cold glass marble floors. She screamed a silent frustrated scream that came out in an angry low growl.

More than anything, Kaoru wanted to be beautiful. Her birthday was near too, making her a year older hitting the one eight number eighteen. She was a college student now with a strong obsessive desire to be exceedingly beautiful. Sure she was from an incredibly rich family, that could supply her with any designer clothes if she asked, but her strong ability to criticize any thoughts of change to her features disabled her to do so. Her doting father signed her up for etiquette classes, modeling classes, and other classes to be a passionate, polite, and well-mannered daughter, neither of these classes had allowed Kaoru to snap out of her self hating state. Kaoru however was also allowed to practice Kendo for self defense. Ironically, she wasn't even allowed to get plastic surgery!

The troubled young lady stared at the shards of her broken mirror. She gazed at the multiple reflections that reflected multiple reflections of someone so perturbed, so ugly, so unlovable... Kaoru let out a muffled cry as she attempted to smash the shards into dust so that it would never again reflect someone so ugly, so disturbed by her own looks. Shaking, Kaoru thought of her close dear friends… Megumi, Misao, Sae, and Tae were here bestest ever friends ever… But she always had envied them. They always seemed to be leaking out essences of beauty everywhere they go. Kaoru traced a shard of the mirror with her long finger as if in a trance, careful not to gaze into the mirror that brought her nightmares.

Megumi, had long luscious black raven hair, full ruby red lips, and an incredibly alluring body with a bosom to die for; she was also graced with long slender legs. She had chocolate colored brown eyes that melted people as they gazed into her eyes. Megumi, though had a very playful foxy personality that could often tiresome.

While, Misao, had an adorable body, a cute face, a petite form that screamed cuteness, incredibly plump pink lips, and nice long hair tied into a think braid that passed her ankles. She had sparkling emerald green eyes that gleamed like actual emeralds. Misao was incredibly talkative, always chittering and chattering about anything she could think of.

The two identical twins, Sae and Tae, were very pretty and intelligent. The two always wore a bun that swirled their brown sugar colored hair with very few strands of hair poking out of the bun which shaped their faces. They both had eyes that seemed never to open but occasionally did, causing others to question how the two were both incredibly graceful and quick on their feet.

But out of all of her beautiful friends, Kaoru on the other hand, always wore braids, glasses, and baggy clothes. Not surprisingly all her friends modeled but Kaoru. She cast a glance at her reflection "I'm_ ugly…………_" she whispered sadly to herself. With a sob, the girl began picking up pieces of her broken mirror. Kaoru sighed wearily, "when did it turn out this way?" It was the one hundredth of mirrors she had broken.

"EARTH TO KAORU!" Kaoru shot up. There was Misao and Megumi standing in front of her desk. "Why don't you put your hair down and take off those glasses?! You don't even need them! And those baggy clothes! Your father is one of the richest men in the country, you could at least ask for some decent clothing, Kaoru!" Megumi and Misao shouted at the same time.

Kaoru glared at the two girls, "I don't want to look even worse!"

"How can you look even worse Kaoru, dear, when you've already looked as ugly as hell?" asked a new voice to the conversation. This new voice belonged to a very annoying individual. Kaoru had always hated her since they were both little. Tomoe.

Tomoe was one of the popular girls, along with Megumi and Misao. She had two girls who always stuck around with her. Yumi and Collette. They were often really nice but around Tomoe they were just as crude tongued as Tomoe. Tomoe, who had the mask of an angel, was actually a demon from hell, dressed in a beautiful girl skin. She came from a normal family, but had the smarts to go to the elite school Kaoru attended. Misao and Megumi glared at Tomoe. "Now, now ladies…. We wouldn't want Kaoru to turn even more pathetic then ever? Right? She can't even defend herself! P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!" and she walked away howling with laughter as Megumi and Misao gave piercing glares in Tomoe's direction.

"Kaoru…. Why can't you defend yourself against Tomoe? You're in COLLEGE now and you STILL let her all over you... I hate it how that little bitch always makes fun of you……" Misao's voice trailed off.

Kaoru looked down at her desk and said nothing. _'I've always told Megumi and Misao not to help me when someone was picking on me…I can't let them be burdened by me…'_ she thought to herself.

"I can't take it anymore! That's it! I'm just going to spill it. Today after school, you, Kaoru Kamiya, are going shopping for a new ward robe, and a new look! With love from Misao, Tae, Sae and me! Consider it as a partial surprise birthday gift from us," declared Megumi, with Kitsune ears, popping onto her head.

Misao swatted Megumi, "you ruined it Meg!" The bubbly girl then gave Kaoru a devilish look, "And you're not skipping it!" added Misao with a wide grin.

Kaoru groaned. Her worst nightmare had become a reality.

"No. I say no, no, no, no, no!" Kaoru screeched.

"Oh come one Missy!" Sano whined. Sano, Megumi's boyfriend, the free loader. Although his parents were rich, he just didn't bother to bring money anywhere which ended up with him mooching off of Kaoru, or Megumi.

"Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase? I need some one to carry all of the things and he'll be the judge!" Megumi begged Kaoru.

As Megumi negotiated with Kaoru, Aoshi appeared had joined up with the gathering. "What in the world is up with Kaoru?" he asked Megumi. Aoshi was Kaoru's older brother. He was silent and…. Even more silent. Girls flocked around him because he was so mysterious, handsome, and silent (and more silent).

"Kaoru's getting a new look!" said Misao dreamily announced to him. The girl had an enormously huge crush on him for a very long time. Aoshi didn't say anything then he solemnly looked up to the sky, and he seemed like was thanking the gods.

Kaoru casted a horrified glance at her older brother. "AOSHI!!" Kaoru screamed and swatted him.

"KAORU!!" screeched Misao and swatted her, enraged that Kaoru had smacked her man that she often gushed on about.

"Look, sister, dear, your hair reaches all the way to your knees… Look at the split ends. It's terrible. You wear glasses when you don't even need them. You put your hair in looooooong braids. You wear baggy clothes. This makes you look fat." Aoshi critiqued.

Kaoru felt as if the world had betrayed her. "Why, oh, why does my stupid brother go against me?! WHY?!" Kaoru asked the heavens. And all what was left of the scenery was Kaoru, screaming and cursing the gods while being dragged by her friends into the car for her make over.

Kaoru found myself looking at the pile of clothes and cosmetics tucked snuggly in the shop bags that were all for her "new look". She sorted through the receipts, and then gaped at the total price of: 2500. 'I really did enjoy wearing all the clothes and shopping and all….. But will father be upset with me?!' Kaoru quickly stuffed the receipts in her new coach bag. Viewing her new surroundings, she was now sitting at the hair salon with her friends staring at her in a dramatic manner.

"Next costumer, number 36 please come up," called out the hair booker.

Kaoru glanced at her ticket number. It was number 36, and number 36 was Kaoru. Everyone gave her a reassuring smile, and Aoshi held out his hand, "hand over the glasses, Kaoru."

Kaoru felt like she was about to go berserk. People hardly ever saw her without her glasses. Aoshi gave her a stare, causing her to sigh and shakily remove her glasses and place them into the palm of her older brother's hand. Then, with a sigh she got up and plopped down on the assigned salon seat.

The flashy hair dresser appeared- scissors in hand and she started hacking away at Kaoru's untamed and unmanaged hair.

There was a huge silence in the air as everyone shuffled out of the room and left Kaoru to the hair dresser. When the hair dresser was finished, Kaoru was allowed in the salon's bathroom and checked herself. "_Is this really me?_" she asked herself. Then she changed her clothes that Megumi insisted she try out now. She changed her clothes and stared in the mirror. Kaoru stared into the reflection once again; she couldn't rip her eyes off the mirror.

'"_Kaoruchan! Kaoruchan!" a young boy running up to a young Kaoru. _

"_Oh! Hi! What would you like to play today?? Megumichan, Misaochan, Sae chan, and Tae chan are coming too! Onisama too!" _

"_Let's play knights!!" _

"_No! Let's play house!!" The two kids then started to bicker among themselves._

"_Kaoru. Kaoru. Kaoru." The same young boy again called, but this time he looked older. _

"_Hiya!" teen Kaoru said smiling to the boy she had come to love. Kaoru was so popular then. "I want to tell you something today after school today!" _

"_Me too! I'd like to tell you something too. But what the heck, why not now? Tomoe and I are dating!" The boy flashed an enormously bright happy smile. _

_Kaoru froze, her world had suddenly shattered. "Tomoe?" she croaked. _

"_Yeah, aren't you happy for us?" _

_Kaoru put on a huge and wide fake smile. 'No not really' she thought to herself. After all, Tomoe would always pick on her when he wasn't around. Everyone all said that Kaoru was prettier than Tomoe. And both Kaoru and Tomoe liked him. So does he think that Tomoe's prettier than her? Is she really that ugly? "Yeah……Really happy. Never mind about today. I'll tell you something some other time, I'll let you have time with your new girlfriend today... See ya later!" Kaoru smiled and walked away. Then as she started running towards Misao, Megumi, Tae and Sae, her friends, tears of sorrow and heartbreak slid down slowly. _

_That was about the time and reason Kaoru started wearing baggy clothes. That's why she put her hair up. That's why she wore those fake glasses to conceal herself even more. That's why she had ignored that boy for the past few years. She had developed an illness that was curable, but no one knew about it or had it diagnosed. The illness made girls hallucinate imperfections on their bodies, thus making them changing themselves and become very anti-social, (A/N People this IS a real illness. I just don't know what it's called.)_

Then Megumi rushed into the public bathroom and squealed. "Kaoru! You look gorgeous! You really should consider modeling!!" Then Megumi stopped "Kaoru? You're crying…"

Then Kaoru looked at Megumi tearfully, "Do you remember what happened years ago? When I started looking like I did before today?"

"Oh, Kaoru…" then Megumi embraced Kaoru in a comforting hug, Megumi was like Kaoru's older sister after all and the two shared a sisterly bond along with Misao.

"Forget him. He was a jerk. Tonight we go clubbing!" Then Megumi dragged Kaoru out to show everyone Kaoru's new do, the fox girl had hoped she could drift Kaoru's mind off from what had happened years ago.

"Wow Jouchan! You look great! Makes me wish I was the lucky guy you're going to hook up with!" Sano said then earning a lump on the forehead from Megumi. Everyone agreed.

Then Aoshi started to thank the heavens "Oh thank you gods for this moment! Kaoru is no longer a nerd!" Then Kaoru summoned her magical wooden sword and- well you know what next.

"And a' clubbing we're a' going'" Misao and Sano declared with excitement and a silly saluting pose.

The music was loud- no BOOMING. The lights were flashing off and on. People were everywhere, dancing and dancing. The gang met up with Sae and Tae who had waited for them and Kaoru's transformation.

"You look so pretty!" they exclaimed at the same time. Kaoru just sweat dropped. Then everyone chatted for a while. After what seemed like ten minutes, Megumi and Sano joined the dance floor. Then Sae and Tae ran off to the dance floor to dance. And Kaoru, Misao, and Aoshi were left sitting together at the same table.

In a quiet yet loud whisper, Misao commanded on to Kaoru, "move your butt up there and start dancing." Kaoru knew Misao just wanted to have some time with Aoshi, so she got up and started to dance. When Kaoru was on the dance floor she started to dance. After a few minutes she heard a couple of whistles and catcallers at her. _'Oh great……Now I'm being checked out by some perverts' _Kaoru thought to herself. Then she danced herself off to the edge of the dance floor and danced by herself.

"Hey beautiful, where have you been?" said a voice that she could barely recognize, and the owner of the voice wrapped his arms around her...

'_Could it be? Could it be him?' _She asked herself, her heart beating so quickly. Then Kaoru turned her face and saw the same by who crushed her heart. "Kenshin?"

"The one and only, Princess! So what's up?" Kenshin grinned. "Why haven't I seen you around school, Kaoru?"

April 24, 2008

Just re-edited the chapter a bit...!! Well actually alot lol. Anyways enjoy :) The second chapter is almost finished!

Thanks so much for sticking with me my darling readers :hearts:

Take care and with love,

serph


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